Saturday, October 10, 2009

COLOSSUS

the CITIZENS ARREST 2 x 12" discography, called COLOSSUS finally surfaced yesterday. I hope I don't need to tell you how fucking brilliant this band was (and still is!)? in any case, the packaging is as top-notch as the music. COLOSSUS comes in a gatefold cover and incl. a double-sided poster, a thick booklet with pics, flyers, etc. and the records are made of the 160g vinyl type. music-wise this discography is a little bit incomplete as the tracks from the live 8" and the CRUCIAL CHAOS radio-show on WNYU are missing (except one track of the later). the liner-notes say that the 8" tracks weren't included cause of the bad quality. that's a pity cause those tracks are as raw & vicious as it can get so who gives a fuck about the quality in that case? and as even my tape with the radio-show still is of ok quality I assume that a 1st generation copy of that show should have a quality that one could use without embarrassing oneself. what surprised me was that the tracks from the SONGS FOR THE SOCIALLY RETARDED tape comp. were not only left off the tape comp. isn't even mentioned anywhere. anyway, now that I told you what you won't get it's about time I tell you what you get. the a-side of the 1st 12" has the tracks from their 1989 demo on which the vocal duties were handled by a guy called Ted Leo while the later singer Darryl Kahan played drums. the b-side then follows up with the 6 tracks from their A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS 7" which was released in 1990 and which could be described in one word as: masterpiece. the 2nd 12" starts with the tracks from the various comps. on which CITIZENS ARREST appeared like the LOOK AT ALL THE CHILDREN NOW 12" comp., the FOREVER 7" comp., etc. and ends with a cover of RED C's PRESSURE'S ON that was supposed to be on the FUCK ROCK - ABC NO RIO comp. that never saw the light of day and was therefore unreleased till now. on the b-side you then get the tracks that were on their full-length from 1991 which also was already called COLOSSUS. to make a long story short: in my book HARDCORE is divided in two periods from start till 1994 and from there till now. why? cause from start till 1994 NEGATIVE APPROACH have been the only band that came close to usurping CITIZENS ARREST 's throne. they fought tooth and claw for the pole-position in my personal ranking till finally CITIZENS ARREST could slowly gain the upper hand in 1993. but when they just tried to catch their breath GEHENNA launched their 1st ambush attack and the war was on again and still goes on today! to spell it out for you: buy this record!
edit: when I found out that there is also a "die-hard" edition (= colored wax & incl. a patch) I immediately ordered one. now the sad thing is that after I placed my order I recognized that the label also distributes a lot of National-Socialist Black Metal which is a total let down! why CxA decided to work with those asscandles is beyond me as every label would have been honored to release the discography! therefore my new advice is: try to get the original records on e-bay or where ever you find them (I could maybe help you with a copy of their 12" or either pressing of the 8" which isn't on the record anyway). b.t.w. if you want to sell/trade me a copy of the A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS 7" or the COLOSSUS 12" on red vinyl shoot me an e-mail.




12 comments:

  1. wow, another incomplete CA discography. They should masterize crucial chaos session and the 8" flexi they're fucking awesome! I don't why the discography of the greatest bands are incomplete, maybe I'll catch it! cheers papst!

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  2. Pity it's not 100% complete, that's not going to stop me from buying it though!

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  3. seems to be an unwritten law or something like that... I know at least 3 different CxA "discographies" and none is complete but it's the best so far! even though I'd have preferred the WNYU tracks instead of the demo.

    anyway, it's CxA and therefore one has to buy at least 1 copy!

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  4. best band of all time, but its hard for me to buy this when i have had all the same songs for years. i guess i should just get it.

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  5. yeah, get it. I've had all the tracks in one form or another even the unreleased RED C cover but the quality of the demo tracks is better than ever before and as the 7" and the 12" are each on one side of a 12" it spares you from having to flip the record if you want to listen to either of them.
    besides that: in my case the discography came very handy as the grooves of the COLOSSUS 12" I usually play are slowly wearing out...

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  6. I got that lost and found CD like a million years ago. I played the hell out of it, but it doesnt have the demo or red C track.

    totally not related, but any sick/tired reviews yet?

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  7. GREAT post Pope! Any chance you could reup the Reproach NA tribute 7" with all its songs? The Rupture track was missing.

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  8. it neither has all comp. tracks if I'm not mistaken but way worse it is "re-mastered" and has a ridiculously thin sound compared to the vinyl if memory serves me right.

    the 1st S/T review is here:
    http://i-b-rec.blogspot.com/2009/09/1st-coffee-rage-sicktired-split-7-aka.html

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  9. WTF? will check the REPROACH post and re-up it if necessary. thanks for telling me!

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  10. @ R0flmywaffles:

    no problem!

    @ Colin Bayer:

    read my update...

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